Google gives £550k to Bletchley Park

Google has donated over half a million pounds for restorations at Bletchley Park, the site which commemorates the birth of modern computing and the code-breakers who helped bring the Second World War to an end.

Bletchley Park chiefs intend to use the cash to turn a crumbling hangar into a "world-class visitor centre and exhibition" and to restore three "code-breaking huts" for visitors in a £15 million restoration programme.

The centre has won a £4.6million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund but needs to attract £1.7million in outside funding before the big grant can be delivered and the next stage of the development kickstarted.

The £550,000 Google contribution is the biggest single donation that the Bletchley Park Trust has received so far. It was given by the search engine's charitable arm, which donated a total of $100 million (£64.4million) in 2011.

"It would be wonderful if other donors follow Google’s example to help preserve our computing heritage," said Simon Greenish, CEO of the Bletchley Park Trust. "We could then proceed as soon as possible with restoration of the profoundly historically significant codebreaking huts.”